Heavy defeat a disappointing end to positive season for Lady Bandits

STRONG FOUNDATION: Players such as Mel Kirby have benefited from more court time with the Lady Bandits during the 2017 season. Picture: JAMES WILTSHIRE

It wasn’t the way Lady Bandits coach Jim Wilson was planning to end the SEABL season.

His young side ran into a ruthless Geelong outfit on Saturday night, suffering a 104-53 thrashing to cap off what has been a positive campaign on a sour note.

The Border side was never really in the contest, losing all four quarters by 11, 12, 13 and 15 points, respectively.

Import Adijat Adam was the only player to reach double figures in scoring, finishing the game with 25 points at 52 per cent (9-17) from the field, as well as six rebounds and two blocks.

Toccara Ross was fouled out after 21 minutes on eight points, while captain Emma Mahardy (five points at 2-11) and Steph Gorman (six points at 2-8 shooting) were unable to get anything going on the offensive end.

The Lady Bandits’ biggest loss of the season prior to the final round at Geelong was 31 points against the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence.

However, they will take plenty of positives from winning four games throughout the year against Sandringham, Canberra, Nunawading and Hobart, two of which made the playoffs.

The win column showed further progress than the three victories posted last season.

Kilsyth was crowned the SEABL women eastern conference champions with an 18-4 record, finishing just ahead of Geelong on the head-to-head, who finished with the same win-loss ratio.

Sydney Univeristy (12-10) and Nunawading (10-12) will also progress to the playoffs from the east.

Dandenong secured the southern conference championship with 15 wins and seven losses, while Bendigo (14-8), Hobart (12-10) and Launceston (12-10) will also play post-season.